Love After a Death
by Alfie1027
Summary: When Draco receives the news of his mother's death, how will his attitude change and who will be there for him when his friends and father are not?
1. Chapter 1

Hermione sat by the window of the Gryffindor common room debating whether to write her History of Magic essay on the conception of the Wolfsbane potion, or the long past of the famous Wizengamot. She knew that her best friends, Harry and Ron, would no doubt write their essays on what they ate for breakfast last week, but this was her sixth year of Hogwarts. She wanted it to be special, and the only way to do this was to be top of her class in every subject.

Just then, Harry and Ron stumbled in, covered in mud from Quidditch practice and blabbering excitedly about some chaser on the Australian national quidditch team who had scored over 300 points in a 30 minute game.

"Hermione!" called Ron, "are you still working on homework? I finished that before I even ate dinner!"

"Did you write that two rolls of parchment on the Drought of Living Death that Professor Slughorn assigned?" responded Hermione sassily. "I must have told you about it five times already today." Hermione watched as Ron's face slowly fell and he bid goodbye to Harry so that he could go shower and then get to work. It wasn't that she didn't respect Ron-she did- but he was so lazy and never showed any true desire to do schoolwork. If she was honest to herself, she did have a bit of a schoolgirl crush on him, but he never had incentive. She could not let her mind be influenced by that baboon. "How was practice?" she asked Harry.

"Oh, it was okay." he mumbled in response. Hermione had known Harry for over five years, and knew something was wrong if he didn't respond to her question with a lecture on how brilliant the house team was this year.

"Alright, Harry," she said putting down her quill and parchment. "What happened?"

"Well, it started off okay," Harry began, "we were all playing great and Ron was saving all of Ginny's shots, but then Malfoy turned up." Hermione groaned. If Malfoy had been there, nothing good could have resulted from it. "Hold on let me finish," said Harry in response to Hermione's groan. "So Malfoy showed up, and he was acting differently. He was still insulting us and everything, but I got the feeling that he didn't really mean a lot of the things that he was saying. Anyway after practice finished, I went down to the locker rooms and he was waiting. He said something cruel about my parents and I responded with some comment about his mother. The next thing I know the git is tearing up and running out of the building."

Hermione sat looking confused for a minute before her problem solving skills kicked in. "So he ran away after you insulted his mother?" she asked Harry carefully. The boy nodded in response.

"If you don't mind Hermione, I am going to go up and take a shower. This is weird enough as it is and I have mud in my hair."

"Okay, good night Harry." Hermione put away her quill and parchment and thought about what Harry had just told her. If something was wrong with Malfoy's mother then surely he wouldn't have liked Harry talking about her. That would also explain why his heart hadn't been behind his usually destructive insults. For now, Hermione decided, she would just concentrate on her school work, but tomorrow she would read through the Daily Prophet to see if any harm had come upon Narcissa Malfoy.


	2. Chapter 2

Draco dragged his feet through the empty halls of Hogwarts towards the stairs leading up to the Astronomy tower. It was 11:00 at night, he should be in bed, or at least in his common room. "What's the point of sleeping?" he murmured to himself. If he slept no doubt painful memories of her would overtake him and cast him into such agony that he wouldn't be able to function. He hadn't even been able to insult Potter and Weazelbee without the torture of that letter coming back to him. He could still picture the envelope, white and starchy being dropped into his lap. At the time he had thought nothing of it. Fan mail, no doubt. But it wasn't until he opened it that his life changed forever.

_Dear Mr. Draco Malfoy,_

_ We, the Ministry of Magic, regret to inform you that your mother, Narcissa Malfoy is no longer alive. At precisely 8:33 PM Thursday night she was hit with a powerful Cruciatus Curse and died instantly. We believe that because of the destructiveness of this particular curse she had little time to experience pain before she died. You will remain in the care of your father, one Lucius Malfoy, until you turn of age. Once again, we are sorry for your loss._

At first, Draco had not known how to react. He had thought that surely this was some kind of cruel hoax, but the letter had been sealed with the official ministry stamp and sent with a flawless barn owl, the messenger birds for the ministry.

Coming back to reality, Draco realized that he had ascended the long spiral staircase leading up to the tower and was now silhouetted against the sky. He stared up at the millions of constellations and once again drifted off into his own thought. The letter had not been very specific about the cause of death. Yes, the Cruciatus curse had been administered, but who had cast it? Draco scoffed at himself. Of course he knew who cast it. His father, Lucius Malfoy was the only person who could have done it. His father had been very protective of his mother. Not in a caring way, in a mistrusting way. One of the worst memories of Draco's childhood was walking in on his father about to curse his mother and yelling about safety and the Dark Lord. They had tried to act normal when they saw Draco's scared, pale face hiding in the corner, but Draco had no doubt that the moment that he had run out to cry behind the guest house they had not come to look for him and instead Lucius had carried out his intentions. Yes, his father had killed his mother on Thursday night. Draco knew that nobody would believe him, but the minute he stepped back into Malfoy Manor during Winter Vacation his father would let him know about it in an attempt to intimidate.

Draco sighed loudly and stared down towards the Hogwarts grounds. From here he could see Hagrid's hut and the Forbidden Forest. He had been terrified of the forest since first year when he had been forced to enter it with Granger, Potter, and Weasley. He had no doubt that the cloaked creature had been the Dark Lord feeding on unicorn blood. Even now he looked back on his eleven year old self in disgust for running away instead of heroically facing it like Potter did.

_Wait. What?_

What had he just said? Had he just called Potter heroic? Lord, his mother's death had really had a huge impact on him if he was even giving a bit of respect to his worst enemy. Like it or not, though, Draco had been at the Gryffindor quidditch practice hoping that he could talk to Potter about having a dead mother. He knew that Potter would most likely not talk to him or just make fun of him, but he was the only person Draco knew who had gone through life with no mum. It was an idiotic move by himself. Draco hadn't even been able to bring himself to talk about it without fist insulting the boy. He was sure that Potter had seen him tear up when the bloke had insulted his mother.

_Oh well, I should probably just go back to the dungeons before that imbecile Filch finds me and makes me do work around the castle like a peasant._

As he made his way down towards the basement, he passed a portrait of a particularly plump woman. This isn't what caught his attention though. He could see a light behind the sleeping portrait and hear voices. On closer inspection he saw that the picture was slightly open. _This must be the Gryffindor common room! _Thought Draco excitedly. _Typical of the Gryffindors to have a fat lady as their portrait, it represents their personalities perfectly. _Draco peaked inside and saw Granger talking in low tones with Potter. He couldn't hear much but managed to hear a few phrases like "Malfoy showed up "responded with some comment", and last of all "running out of the building". _Was it possible that they were talking about his actions at the quidditch practice? _If this assumption was correct, then for the next fifteen minutes Granger was thinking hard about something. He wondered if she could be deducing the death of his mother. _Surely not. Not even Granger is that smart. _Still, Hermione continued her brainstorming session until she gave a rather soft, pleasant yawn and headed up to what Draco inferred to be the girl's dormitories.

Hold up. Had he just classified something that Granger did as "pleasant"? He was surely cracking up. How could he possibly even think that? It wasn't until Draco was seated in front of the fire in his respective common room that he realized that in all the time he had been watching her, he had not felt one feeling of contempt towards the bushy-haired girl...


	3. Chapter 3

Okay so... Chapter 3!

By the way I realized that I forgot a Disclaimer so here it is:

**I do not own any of the characters, locations, or other Harry Potter elements in this story, JK Rowling does.**

**Hermiones POV**

Hermione woke up to the dim glow of sunlight streaming through her window. She looked at her watch and realized that it was already 6:30. She would have to step up her game and wake up earlier if she wanted to perfect her studying for next months subjects in Arithmacy. She glanced over at her girly and gossipy roommates Lavender Brown, Parvati Patil, and Fay Dunbar. Although Hermione enjoyed being in the company of other females in comparison to Harry and Ron, she didn't quite understand what was the fuss with boys, nail polish, and hair.

With a sigh, Hermione rose up from her bed and got dressed. _I can probably still finish a few extra essays for Transfiguration before breakfast. _As Hermione sat down in front of the flames, she recalled her conversation with Harry from the night before. If Malfoy's mother really was in serious danger, the Ministry would surely know about it, wouldn't they? _No, you idiot, the Ministry is completely brainwashed. They wouldn't know if Voldemort walked into Hogsmeade and bought a butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks. _Hermione evaluated the predicament. Why was she even helping Malfoy? She had felt nothing but hatred towards him ever since the beginning of her first year at Hogwarts. _Maybe, _she thought, _it's because you have never seen this side of him before. This side that shows that maybe he actually cares for someone on this planet. Besides himself, that is. _Yes, maybe that was it. Maybe she thought that since it had been proved that he could have compassion she wanted to help.

With another glance down at her watch, Hermione realized that she had been in her own thoughts for over half an hour. If she wanted to get at least one essay done before breakfast at 7:00 she would have to gear down. _Okaaay, what do we have here? Undetectable extension charm? That sounds interesting, maybe I should write about that. _Yes, that would be her topic, yet only the most critical and perceptive writing would be given top marks by Professor McGonagall.

"Oi, Hermione." Ron's loud voice snapped her back to earth. "I was wondering if I could possibly see your notes on the History of Magic lesson from Wednesday."

"Really, Ronald, you didn't bother to take any for yourself even though you were aware that there is an essay due in three days?" Though she would never admit it, Hermione enjoyed the sheepish, unsure expression that made itself present on Ron's face whenever homework or any schoolwork in general made its way into the conversation. "Okay, here they are." Hermione spit out quickly before Ron could make some excuse about bad hearing or something of that sort. As Ron copied down her three pages worth of notes, she regarded him with something that could be characterized as interest. It was true that he wasn't the smartest or the most thoughtful when food came in his way, but he had a kind heart. _That's not something people just say when they can't find another good trait is it? No, Ron does have a kind heart. In first year, he sacrificed himself so that Harry and I could get closet to the Sorcerers Stone. In second year he helped Harry get into the Chamber of Secrets. In third year, well, he didn't really do that much in third year. In fourth year he shunned Harry when Harry needed him the most but then they made up. And then he ruined the Yule Ball for me... Hmm... that was a downside. But then in fifth year he helped Harry and the rest of us get to the Ministry. He even did his part in hexing Malfoy. And besides, he has other qualities. He has grown a large amount since last year. I guess that makes him somewhat attractive. _It was at this moment that Hermione realized that she had been full on staring at Ron for the whole time. Luckily the red-haired boy was so concentrated on taking notes he hadn't noticed.

During breakfast Hermione found herself once again staring at a boy, but this time it wasn't Ron. Draco Malfoy had never looked so depressed. He wasn't eating anything, his normal group of friends were nowhere to be found, leaving him to sit alone, and he wore an expression of pain disguised by tiredness. Hermione knew that expression of pain more than most people did. In her long friendship with Harry, she had never seen the glimmer of agony in his eyes that could never be removed. For him, the sorrow of losing his parents is permanent. Thinking of Harry's parent problems brought her back to why she was looking at the pale, blond haired boy in the first place. Although the Daily Prophet would most likely not mention anything about a potential death in the Malfoy family, it would surely give her a list of crimes committed. Looking up, she saw one of the Ministry's barn owls swoop down upon her carrying a rolled up paper. She slipped a galleon in the owl's pouch and it gracefully took off.

"Anyone we know dead?" questioned Harry, a look of anticipation on his face. Hermione knew that deep down he was wondering if the Malfoy family had been harmed in any way, but he would never admit that he was interested in his enemy's wellbeing.

"Not that I can see..." replied Hermione slowly "But it does say here that there have been incidents where powerful Cruciatus curses have been administered and have resulted in death." Hermione's brain was working in full overdrive. A powerful cruciatus curse could have definitely harmed Narcissa Malfoy. She was married to a powerful death eater who surrounded himself with other dark wizards. Yes, death by unforgivable curse could have occurred. Again Hermione glanced at Malfoy. She had been expecting the same dull expression on his face, but this time her gaze was met by the boy. She couldn't explain why, but behind the face that she was accustomed to, she could make out a distinct sign of pondering, as if he was thinking about her. Draco Malfoy was indeed looking her over with a sort of fascination. Not a flirty type, but one that would have sent chills through her body if he had not been the one who had called her Mudblood for three years. This sort of fascination stared deep into her soul. It was as if Malfoy was searching for an answer in her mind, one that he himself could not figure out. Even as she tried, Hermione could not break away from his gaze. Not only were his eyes hypnotizing her, she was realizing that she had never really looked at him without disgust. In reality, Draco Malfoy was rather attractive. His blond hair and stunning green eyes were traits that many boys would have died for.

"Hermione? Hermione? HERMIONE!" Draco broke his gaze at her and Hermione looked up at the unidentified person who was calling her name. It turned out to be Harry. "What are you staring at that is so fascinating, Hermione? We are already late to Potions and Professor Slughorn said that we would be learning how to brew Veritaserum." Luckily for Hermione, Harry wasn't looking for an answer to whom she had been staring at. She quickly stood up but before she reached the large doors of the Great Hall she looked back at the spot where Draco had been sitting. The space was now empty.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

**Draco POV**

As Draco entered the Great Hall for breakfast, he noticed that the owls had started arriving. He would not admit it to anyone, but he was secretly hoping that his father had been found guilty for his mothers death and be arrested. Narcissa Malfoy had been everything to Draco. Unlike Lucius Malfoy, Narcissa was supportive of him no matter what he decided to do. Draco was ashamed to admit that he got many of his behavioral traits from his father. Whenever they were alone, his mother would try to correct them, having Draco repeat the word muggle-born instead of mudblood and things like that. His mother had also been the only person in this world who cared for him. Lucius believed that a Malfoy man's purpose in life was to create other little Malfoys. So to his father, Draco was just inconvenient baggage. His mother was the only one who would tuck him in at night (when he was younger of course), send him letters on post day, take him shopping for clothes, and be there to love him when no one else was. Even Draco's aunt Bellatrix was only obsessed with Draco becoming the next great Death Eater and continuing the family's legacy.

After his mother's death, Draco suspected that the teachers had been notified. Most of them didn't give him trouble if he didn't complete an assignment, and he was using this excuse to its full extent. Draco's ex-friends were noticing that something was up, though. None of them talked to him anymore, leaving him more alone then ever. Crabbe and Goyle had started following Zabini around and Pansy had started dating some seventh year. _Who needs them anyway? They were never there for you. They were just hoping that when you grew up and inherited your family's wealth you would be charitable and let them sleep in the guesthouse. Well none of that anymore, Draco. You are going to start over. You can make new friends. Ones that care about you even. Now lets see, who could be reliable? _Draco's eyes skimmed the crowd all stuffing themselves with eggs, bacon, biscuits, and a variety of breakfast foods provided by the Hogwarts elves.

There was always the Daphne Greengrass. Nicknamed the "ice princess" by virtually the whole school, people seemed to avoid her. Draco liked that fierce quality in someone, but he wanted a friend who would listen to what he had to say with compassion and let him know that everything would be okay. Draco looked up once again. This time his eyes fell on the Gryffindor table. The so-called "Golden Trio" had their heads bent over what Draco presumed to be the latest edition of the Daily Prophet. Draco hated Weasley and Potter with a fiery passion. Friendship with them seemed as impossible as the existence of killer toast robots that fed on the whites of peoples' eyes. But then the mudb-, but then Granger turned her head towards him and he saw a dash of interest in her eyes. The interest was no doubt about what she believed about his family, but he still stared back. Draco Malfoy does not lose staring contests. As he stared he saw the irritating, out of control know it all change before his eyes into an attractive teenage girl. Her warm brown eyes and look of determination made her almost desirable to the Slytherin prince. _When did that happen? Has her hair always been so silky? The last I remember it was a rat's nest that called her scalp home. _It brought a memory back from the depths of Draco's mind.

_Hermione Granger danced with Viktor Krum at the Yule Ball. Her hair was like nothing Draco had ever seen in his life. It sat perfectly on top of her head and seemed to glisten in the light given off by the hundreds of icicles that now covered the usually drab Great Hall. Draco watched mesmerized as Hermione smiled enthusiastically into the face of Viktor Krum. He had never seen that smile before. Whenever he saw her, her face was positioned in an expression of never ending disgust. Was that how it was to have a girl look at you, and like what they saw not just for your looks and background, but also for your personality? Draco slowly turned away from the champions and their dates dancing, experiencing nothing but disbelief about what he was feeling._

Draco snapped back into reality and watched as Scarhead and Weezlebee led Hermione out of the Great Hall. He hid his brief expression of discontent by hastily getting up from his seat to join the crowd of people bustling off to class

"Lets see...Mr. Malfoy?" said the very old, dull voice of Professor Slughorn.

"W-what?" Draco stammered as he was brought back to the musky potions classroom. He had once again been thinking about being with his mother when his thoughts had alarmingly turned to Hermione. His studious response led to an outburst of snickers from the side of the classroom occupied by the Gryffindors. To Draco's horror, even some of the Slytherins joined in the laughter.

"I asked you," sighed Slughorn, "what you smell in the Amortentia?" (**Authors Note**: This is the love potion that they smelled in class in both the book and the movie) Draco bent over the bubbling cauldron and took a long whiff.

"Well sir, I smell broomstick wax, hair gel, and..." Draco trailed off.

"And what Mr. Malfoy?" pressed Slughorn

"And...spearmint toothpaste." concluded Malfoy with a slightly sheepish tone in his voice. The more he tried to remember where he had experienced this smell before, the farther and farther away the memory became. He knew that it had been somewhere in the castle, because he could dimly smell the scent of books on them, but he couldn't quite place it. He had hoped that he would smell something that had to do with his mother, just to get a memory of her back. Possibly the brand of perfume that she wore, or the scent of her clothes that in itself smelled like love. But he hadn't gotten any of that from the Amortentia.

When class ended he found himself aimlessly wandering in the direction of his next class. He knew he would be late but he didn't try to speed up or make it to Transfiguration any faster. As he walked, he found himself staring around at the Hogwarts architecture. He had never really noticed it before, but it was kind of beautiful. The portraits were framed in gold which seemingly represented the importance of the people in them. The stones on the floor were each cut individually shown by the untidy grooves and marks in all of them. _Maybe that represents how each student who comes here is not perfect in any means but contribute to something bigger than themselves. All of the individuals that come here form to create a powerful force. Wait, did I really just think that? _

Draco was so into the profound realization he had just made, he didn't notice the girl trapped in the trick step directly in front of him. Before he could stop himself, he crashed into her, sending both him and the brown haired girl tumbling down the stairs. Draco opened his eyes after the initial collision and found his face directly next to the face of Hermione Granger. He immediately jumped to his feet to lengthen the distance between their faces and started his apology.

"Hermione, I'm so sorry! I wasn't concentrating on what was ahead of me and I didn't see you! Are you all right?" Hermione was on the ground, left ankle still twisted in the trick step.

"No, you prat! Help me up!" Draco could see tears glistening in her eyes. The pain in her ankle must have been tremendous. He gave her his hand and lifted her into an upright position. Hermione tried to put weight on her foot and immediately fell back into Draco's arms. "I think it's twisted" she grimaced.

"I'll help you up to the hospital wing," said Draco quickly, "Do you think you can walk?"

"No, you idiot, I can't walk. Just levitate me or something!" Draco had never learned how to do a levitation charm and regretted it now.

"It's okay." he responded, "I can carry you." Before Hermione could react he scooped her up and carried her towards the hospital wing. She turned to face him with an expression of increduality upon her face.

"What's your angle here, Malfoy?"

Draco would have responded if he hadn't gotten a distinct whiff of spearmint toothpaste coming from the mouth of Hermione Granger.


	5. Chapter 5

Hi Everyone. I just wanted to thank those of you who have been reviewing my story so far. It is great to hear your feedback and comments!

Chapter 5

Hermione POV

Hermione would have noticed the pregnant pause that followed her question if she had not realized that Malfoy had called her Hermione. As in, not "Granger", not "Mudblood", and not anything else that insulted her muggle descent. Hermione. _It's as if he is a completely different person. No Draco Malfoy in his right mind would ever call me by my first name. It makes me seem too normal to him or something. _Hermione couldn't stop staring at the confused boy who was holding her so close to him. He was staring right back at her as well. Malfoy wore an expression of utter confusion. It was as if he was analyzing her. As she watched, she recognized a look of understanding growing in his eyes until the glimmer took up his whole pupil and he let out a silent gasp. It was so silent that if she had not been staring at him, she would not have noticed.

"M-My angle?" stuttered Malfoy after a long awkward pause, "What do you mean?" Hermione could tell that he had just made an astonishing discovery in his mind, but however much she yearned to know what it was, she knew he would never tell her. She decided not to push it and respond to h is long awaited response.

"I mean," she started, "after five and a half years of doing nothing except tease me and insult the fact that I'm muggle-born, you decide that you will be kind and carry me to the Hospital Wing? That doesn't seem like the Malfoy that I have known for all this time. The real Malfoy would have laughed at me and left me on the ground with my foot caught in the stairs. To reword my original question, why are you doing this?"

"Well, um...I just...I feel...Malfoy men, however unpleasant we may be, try to reverse things that have happened because of us. I knocked you over because I wasn't aware of my surroundings, so I am helping you recover by taking you to the hospital wing." Draco looked at Hermione hopefully as if pleading that she accept this excuse.

"Alright then, Malfoy. If that is your true intention, why don't you start walking?" Hermione enjoyed the blush that spread across Malfoy's face when he realized that instead of making his way towards the hospital wing, he had been in one stationary position the whole time they had been talking. Instead of responding, the boy turned quickly on his heel and made his way up the staircase towards the large oak doors that stood between them and a line of white beds and Madame Pomfrey. No matter how hard she tried, Hermione couldn't stop thinking about what Malfoy had said about his family's values. _He has never worried about reversing his bad decisions before. He wasn't the one who tried to help Hagrid with Buckbeack's trial or fix Harry's broken nose at the beginning of the year. The opposite, in fact. He stood by and made fun of it the whole time. What has changed? _With this question came the answer that Hermione already knew. _His mother. I guess she really is dead. That's the only explanation to why he is acting this way. _Hermione didn't feel comfortable enough bringing this topic up with the new and improved Draco Malfoy, so she clung to his neck in silence on their journey up to the Hospital Wing.

When they arrived, Draco set Hermione down on her bed and immediately ran off. She barely had time to say an awkward thank you before he was out the door. Madame Pomfrey just shook her head at the boy's behavior.

"That's a shame, that is. I could have helped that poor boy with what he's been going through. I'm sure I have some calming potion that could have helped with his emotions." mumbled Madame Pomfrey under her breath more to herself than to Hermione.

"What did you just say?" questioned Hermione. She was almost sure of what she had heard but wanted some confirmation. Without another word Madame Pomfrey bustled to her potion closet. This new piece of evidence further proved Hermione's guess. The Malfoy family had indeed experienced a loss. An overwhelming sense of sadness flooded her as she thought of what Draco's life would be like now. The family he had left consisted of Death Eaters who wanted him to join the ranks. That wasn't something to look forward to during Christmas break or summer vacation. _I wish that his family could just be a little more caring. It's no secret that Lucius Malfoy doesn't care much for his son. If Draco was shown more love, maybe he would be a better person. _

Madame Pomfrey returned to Hermione's bedside with a bottle of green liquid. The witch whipped out her wand and performed a few simple spells on the girl.

"Just as I thought. It's a badly sprained ankle. I can fix it, but it will still be weak so you'll need to stay in here for an extra day."

Hermione took a dose of the foul smelling potion, but soon realized the effects of her hospitalization. "But that means that I am going to miss all my classes for two days. How will I catch up?"

"Relax, my dear. If what Professor Dumbledore tells me is true, you're already a month ahead of all your classes. I'm sure if you're still worried Mr. Potter and Mr, Weasley can bring you all of the work." soothed Madame Pomfrey. "I will alert them that you're in here and make sure they bring your things."

Hermione sighed and stared longingly out the window. She would give anything to be studying under the shade of a tree by the lake. Anything would be better then being cooped up in here for a day and a half. She knew her only visitors would be Harry and Ron and that their visits would consist of Quidditch talk and asking her for answers to homework questions. _Oh well. They are my best friends. I can't even imagine a world in which we are not together. Harry's my best friend and Ron is sort of my friend who may be something more. I love spending time with them. Sometimes, though, I think I deserve something more then them. Someone who can talk with me about the things that I like rather than the things that they like. Someone who I share interests with. _

With another glance out the window, Hermione took a sleeping pill and drifted off into a sleep filled with images of white ferrets in shining armor and enemies that became friends.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Draco rushed out of the Hospital Wing and started running to the one place he knew he could think in quiet. The Room of Requirement. Not only could the space transform into anything he wanted it to, virtually no one else knew about it so he had it to himself most of the time. Draco was running with no aim but to reach the room. He was barreling into students and teachers alike with nothing so much as a look over his shoulder. He had never been in a personal crisis like this before. On one hand, he had not felt the need to stay with the girl as she suffered by herself in the hospital wing, but on the other hand, he had smelled the exact same spearmint toothpaste on her breath that had been in the Amortentia.

He reached the vast expansion of wall in the corridor with no portraits or tapestries and repeated desperately in his mind. _I need a place where I can think. I need a place where I can think. I need a place where I can think. _He opened his eyes and looked at the previously empty wall. A large door now awaited his vision. With an uneasy glance over his shoulder to make sure nobody was watching, Draco entered the room and gasped.

He had only ever seen the Room where everything was hidden. That version of the Room of Requirement was cluttered and it was impossible to maneuver around in it without tripping and falling on your face. Now, however, Draco was standing on a polished hard wood floor surrounded by large, cushy chairs and a large bookcase containing books about dealing with feelings.

Draco hesitantly sat down in one of the chairs and promptly sank about a foot. With another glance around him, almost every single book had some title relating to loss of family or dealing with emotions. _I know the room is more aware of what I am feeling than I am, but wouldn't I know if I had fallen in love with Hermione? Maybe the Amortentia was somehow wrong. _But as Draco considered the option, he realized that it could not be true.

Whenever he looked at Hermione, all he saw was a beautiful, warm heart that he wanted more than anything else in the world. Draco desired to spend time with her, even if she only wanted to be his friend. All he wanted was someone who would talk with him, respect his feelings, and be a person who he was not afraid to discuss his feelings with. Hermione fit all of these categories. As he had inspected her, he noticed the way she listened to Potter and Weasley.

Her beautiful brown eyes held nothing but concern as she listened to the two, and he could tell that she deeply cared about what they had to say. _If I had someone who cared about me that way, maybe I would end up different than my father. I know that at the rate I'm going, I am going to grow up to be a Death Eater alongside my mother's murderer. _

And then there was Weaslebee. Draco had known for years that the two were crushing on each other even though he was well aware that neither of them had not admitted it to the other. _I just don't understand what she sees in him. He is rude, he eats like a pig, and he has never contributed any actual help to her and Potter. He is the idiot of the operation. Potter is the brawny one and Hermione is the brainy one. The ginger is just there to stumble alongside them and take credit for everything once whatever they are trying to do has been achieved. _Draco chuckled to himself. If a bloke like that could receive the affection of Hermione Granger, surely he could. A small voice in the back of his head laughed at his previous thought and taunted him.

_And what have you done for them? In first year you reported Hagrid to your father, in second year you voiced your belief that Hermione would be killed by Slytherin's monster, in third year you reported Hagrid again, in fourth year you taunted Potter and made badges, and in fifth year, you were part on the Inquisitorial Squad. Hermione could never love you back. _

"She will love me back!" shouted Draco to nobody in particular. The sound of his voice resonated around the hall many times before it died down. He got up to survey the books, but something else caught his eye. A glimmering object had just appeared on the wall. It was a large, shattered fragment of a mirror. As he got closer, he saw not only his reflection, but also Hermione's. Their two bodies were close together and they were laughing at what seemed to be a particularly funny joke.

Draco looked around just in case the real version of Hermione happened to be standing next to him, but he was disappointed. As Draco inspected the mirror further, he saw that there had previously been a sentence located at the top of the mirror. The fragment was greatly shattered, but he could make out one word from the original piece of mirror. _Erised. _Draco had heard something about this so called Mirror of Erised as he listened through the door of his father's study. It was said that the mirror showed the observer their deepest desire. _Wait, that doesn't even make sense. If the mirror shows what we have the deepest desire for, why don't I see my mother in it?_

But Draco knew why he saw Hermione's face and not his mother's. It was because although he felt love for both women, he only had admiration for Hermione. His mother had married his father and stayed with him. What's to admire about remaining in an abusive relationship. Hermione, on the other hand, had overcome adversity in every aspect of her life. She was a muggle-born who quickly rose above half-bloods and pure-bloods both intellectually and physically. Although he was ashamed to admit it, even to himself, she had even overcome his constant ridiculing in the past.

_So Hermione is the one person in the world who I desire. I'm sure if Weaselbee looked into the mirror all he would see was himself holding a bucket of fried chicken. How can I make Hermione see that I am the only person in this world who will respect her and care for her and love her as much as she deserves. To convince her to reciprocate my emotions, I need to make a gesture. Even if I start off small, I need to make sure that she knows how special she is to me. _

With a smile and an idea forming in his mind, Draco set off once again towards the Hospital Wing.

Draco peeked past the large doors at the entrance to the Hospital Wing and saw Weasley and Hermione arguing about something. He couldn't hear anything but he could tell from their facial expressions that the issue at hand was very controversial. With a final, loud, shout of anger, Weasley stood up noisily from his chair and stormed towards the doors where Draco was standing.

As quickly as he could, Draco ran into a small corridor a few feet from the hospital entrance. A few seconds later, the red haired boy trudged past his hiding place mumbling under his breath and turning a shade of beet red. It was all Draco could do to not burst into laughter. Draco cautiously entered the Hospital Wing and glanced shyly towards Hermione's bed. She was wearing and expression of frustration and it was so unnerving Draco almost turned around. But he was a young man in love, so he kept walking.

Hermione looked up as he drew nearer and frustration turned to confusion on her face.

"Malfoy. What are you doing her?"

"Well, um.." Draco wet his mouth and attempted to start again. "I just felt really bad for hurting your ankle so I came and visited you to make sure that you were doing all right." Is um..is everything okay between you and Weasley?"

"Well that isn't really your business but since I'm so mad at him right now it probably wouldn't do any harm to tell you. He came in to ask me about the notes that I took earlier today in Potions and when I told him that he should start taking his own notes in preparation for the N.E.W.T.s he got really mad at me for no reason and said that if I was truly his friend I would let him copy my notes. So we started yelling and then he left. I just don't understand him. It's like he doesn't care about his education at all."

"That isn't fair for him to take advantage of you, though." responded Draco, "I mean it's bad to copy notes in the first place, but now that you're in here and not allowed to leave it is even worse." He didn't know why he was lending his social advice, but he hated to see her so mad at someone, even if it was Weasley.

"Thanks Draco, but seriously, why are you here?" questioned Hermione. Luckily, at that moment Madame Pomfrey decided to drop a large object in her office so Hermione didn't notice the happy look that came over Draco's face. She had called him Draco. Draco. When she said his name it felt like angels were lifting him up into heaven and laying him to rest on Cloud Nine. Except this was very real.

"I wanted to give you something." without another word, Draco pulled out an object wrapped tissue paper. It was a phoenix feather quill and a golden ink holder.


	7. Chapter 7

Hi everyone, sorry I haven't updated in a while. To make up for it I'm going to upload two chapters today.

Chapter 7

Hermione POV

She had tried to refuse his gifts. An unlucky fall down the stairs was no reason for someone to buy her expensive gifts. But the gifts had been so beautiful. Hermione had reasoned that the ink holder was most likely goblin made, and the quill was plucked from one of the most rare birds in existence.

_She gasped as she pulled the last strand of tissue paper away from the objects. She recognized the two objects at once. The golden ink holder glittered in the sun that streamed through the window and the quill reminded of her of a fierce fire. The red, orange, and yellow colors molded together in a swirl of luminescence._

_Hermione looked up at Draco with a look of wonder on her face. _

_"Draco...I don't know what to say..." He smirked at her, but it was an expression of modesty, not arrogance. She found it almost...attractive._

_"Really, it was no problem. My family is friends with the owners of Borgin and Burkes and they owe us a favor. Truthfully, I'm glad I finally have a good reason to go in their besides looking at some Hand of Glory or a broken Vanishing Cabinet." Draco responded in a very un-egotistical way. It was almost as if he had done this not to show his influence over some people, but truthfully out of the goodness of his heart. _

_"But really, Draco," Hermione continued, "I can't accept this. You obviously went into a lot of trouble acquiring this and I'm very grateful, but I'm in the hospital wing for two days tops. I don't need a gift to represent your apology. I completely forgive you." Draco looked a little sad, but immediately responded._

_"Then accept it as a token of friendship. I know that I have made your life a living hell for the past five years, but I am truly sorry. I am aware that you have realized that my mother has passed away. I don't know why, but her death has opened up my eyes. I no longer feel any satisfaction from being a complete git to you anymore. The opposite in fact. Whenever I think of what I have done to you, what I have called you, and what I have put you through, I feel like going back in time and punching myself in the face. Please just give me a chance to be your friend. Please."_

_Hermione sighed and look straight into his eyes. _

_"It's true that you have been terrible to Harry, Ron, and I ever since we arrived here. The things you've done to us have truly been horrendous. But I believe in second chances. Maybe your mother's death-I'm very sorry about that, by the way-has made you turn over a new leaf and see the world in a different perspective. I would love to try being your friend, but to be my friend, you have to also be friends with Harry and Ron. They have been my biggest supporters and best friends since first year and if you can't accept that, I can't be friends with you." Draco smiled and responded right away._

_"Of course. I will do anything."_

Hermione had drifted in and out of the flashback the entire day. She didn't know why, but she was really looking forward to being friends with the Slytherin. Maybe it was the fact that he wasn't acting like a conceited snake anymore. But she had meant what she said about Ron and Harry. They were her number one priority. They had stuck with her ever since the troll and to give up their friendship would be wrong.

"Hey Hermione!" Harry's voice drifted into her thoughts and it was a moment before she realized that he was actually there, not just in her mind. "How are you? We brought you the schoolwork from today and yesterday." Hermione was wondering what Harry meant by "we" but then noticed a sheepish looking ginger skulking behind Harry.

"I'm good, Harry! Madame Pomfrey says that my ankle is healing really well and she is only keeping me in because she wants to observe my recovery. What did you do today in Transfiguration?" Hermione concluded.

"Well we talked about Animagus and the process of becoming one." responded Harry. "It was actually pretty interesting. I know that you probably already know all about them, but I took notes in case you wanted to look over them." Harry glanced at Ron. "That kind of leads us into the next point. Ron has something to say to you." Ron stepped forward and opened his mouth.

"Hermione...I'm um...I'm sorry that I got so mad at you. I was being selfish and I should have respected your feelings more." Ron looked up at her hopefully.

"I accept your apology Ronald, but I'm still going to make you take your own notes from now on." Ron nodded and sat down in the chair by her bedside looking relieved.

"So," prompted Harry, "What's new? Any Hospital Wing gossip we need to hear about?" Hermione could tell that he was joking, but she still felt the need to fill him in on Draco's actions and request.

"Well, I know you guys aren't going to like it," Hermione started, "but Draco Malfoy has been visiting me a lot." she braced herself for the uproar.

After Harry and Ron calmed down she continued. "He is the one that injured me in the first place and he feels really badly. Also, I confirmed that his mom died and I think he is changing. He is more compassionate and willing to open up. There's one more thing...He wants to try being friends." before Harry and Ron could start yelling again she hastily kept talking. " I accepted his request but I let him know that he had to get along with you two as well." Hermione waited for their responses. Both boys looked deep in their own thoughts. Harry was the first to look up.

"I'm a little skeptical that Malfoy is suddenly nice, but if he really has changed, I don't want to be the one that shuts him out. If it means that much to you, Hermione, of course I will be civil to him and try to get to know him." Hermione smiled at Harry, relieved that at least one of her friends respected her and didn't think that she was rushing into things. She looked over at Ron expectedly.

"You want to be friends with Malfoy?" he began, "Hermione, open your eyes. He has never been nice to us before and I don't think he is going to change. Look at all the things he has done to Harry and you. Not to mention Hagrid or my father. I'm sorry, but I don't think that I can be civil to the son of Lucious Malfoy. I know his mom died and all, but someone can't change that fast." by know Ron's face was beet red and he was staring at Harry and Hermione pleadingly. Hermione looked over at Harry and was relieved to see that he was looking at Ron as if he was crazy. "Come on you guys," Ron continued, "don't give him a chance." Hermione opened her mouth to retort, but it was Harry who responded first, not her.

"Ron, I understand your hatred of Malfoy, but what if he really has changed? Ignoring him and not accepting him might just irritate him again. I think that it's worth a shot." Hermione nodded and added on to what Harry was saying.

"Ron, I know this is hard for you to accept because it is happening so quickly. I understand your uneasiness and I will be willing to compromise with you. Harry and I will try to accept Draco as a friend. You don't have to play any part in that and when the three of us are together we won't even speak about him. If at some point you want to join us, we will accept you with open arms and respect your change of heart." Hermione looked over at Harry, "Is that okay with you?"

Harry nodded. " I think that that is a Great Compromise." he smiled at Ron. "Have you heard about the first ever Hogwarts Quidditch All-Star Game? Harry asked. "Supposivley the houses are going to vote on their best players and the winning people will be on teams. It's going to be Gryffindor and Slytherin's best players versus Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff's. Ron frowned.

"We have to work with the Slytherins? Does Dumbledore seriously think that that is going to end well?" Harry laughed.

"Maybe he thinks that it will somehow have the same results as the Triwizard Tournament and that the spirit of competition will bring out the best in people." The two boys got up to leave and Hermione could hear Ron faintly whisper as they walked out of the Hospital Wing,

"Hopefully someone doesn't have to die this time."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Draco POV

Draco was in a warm, comforting place. He was without worry for the first time in days and he felt like he could take on the world. He lay in this state of compete peace before his eyelids cracked open. He wished that for once he could awake to the sound of birds chirping or light streaming in through a window. He wished he could have a window in the first place. The dungeons were a dreary place to have a dormitory. If he hadn't known that he was in Hogwarts, Draco was sure that he would believe that he was trapped in a prison.

He was hit with the realization that he hadn't wished for a sunlit filled morning before. He had always liked the darkness of the dungeons, thinking that it matched his personality. But now that his mind had been opened, Draco realized that all the Slytherins were virtually being molded into dark, shadowy beings while the rest of the school was exposed to nature and sunlit corridors all of the time. In a way, even if Slytherins were some how sorted wrong, they were eventually molded into a stereotypical Slytherin.

Draco sighed and arose from his soft bed. His roommates were presumably already down at breakfast stuffing their faces, leaving Draco alone in the dormitory. He hurriedly got dressed in his robes and made his way out of the dark dungeons and up towards the Great Hall.

As he rounded a corridor, Draco found himself face to face with his old friends, Crabbe, Goyle, and Pansy Parkinson.

"Draco, we need to talk to you," demanded Pansy. "You haven't been yourself lately and we were pretty fed up with your behavior. Professor Snape just told us that your mother died and I think that we all just wanted to say sorry." Draco glanced at Crabbe and Goyle. They didn't look particularly sorry. In all the years that he had known the two, Draco had never seen them show any sign of true emotion.

"Thanks Pansy," said Draco softly, "it's nice to know you are thinking of my mother."

"Yeah, so... we wanted to talk to you about something else as well," started Pansy, "One of my roommates was stressing out about a test coming up, so I went up to the Hospital Wing the other day to fetch her an antidote and I saw something... interesting."

"And what was that do tell? Responded Draco nervously.

"I saw you talking with Hermione Granger. What was that about?" said Pansy accusingly. Draco wasn't about to lie to the girl, but he didn't find it necessary to tell her the whole truth which included what he had got Hermione and his proposition for her.

"I'm the reason that she is in there. I was just apologizing for hurting her and making sure that she was okay." It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the whole truth. Draco figured that by lying to Pansy he wasn't protecting himself, he was protecting his new friend Hermione. It felt so amazing to even refer to Hermione as his friend. Draco never would have thought that one word could put a smile on his face.

Draco realized that Pansy was still staring at him suspiciously. It was probably due to his unsatisfactory answer, but Draco was sure that the large smile that had just made an appearance on his face played a part in her skepticism.

"Well...okay Draco, we'll see you later." Pansy, Crabbe, and Goyle pushed past him and descended the steps leading to the dungeon.

As Draco entered the Great Hall, his eyes immediately drifted towards the Gryffindor table. He had no desire to eat breakfast, only to speak to Hermione. Draco did not see the girl so he made his way towards the Slytherin table. He knew that he was imagining it, but it seemed as if when he sat down, his classmates all scooted away from him. He looked longingly over towards the Gryffindor table, and this time his eyes were met with a brown-haired, brown-eyed girl.

Draco met her eyes and smiled. The smile she sent back at him radiated warmth and he was sure that he could feel the heat of it from where he was sitting. As he watched her, Hermione nudged Harry, and gestured towards Draco. _She must have told Harry and Ron about what I said. _Harry looked over towards where Draco was sitting and gave him a forced smile, but Draco appreciated the effort. His eyes then fell to Ronald. The red head was staring down at his plate with a look of disgust on his face. Since Draco knew that Ron could never be mad at his food, he presumed that he was taking the news of his friendship to Hermione rather hard.

Draco quickly downed a piece of toast and a glass of pumpkin juice. He wanted to talk to Hermione and he also desired to get to Defense Against the Dark Arts on time. If he wanted to get in Hermione's good books, his grades would have to start picking up. After one last bite of sausage, Draco got up from his seat and made his way towards the large doors that marked the exit to the large room. He had seen Hermione's bushy hair disappear in this crowd and he wanted to find her and ask her what her two friends had said.

Before he could exit the doors, his path was blocked by a figure clothed in all black. He looked up and saw the leering face of Professor Snape.

"Where are you hurrying off to, Draco" the man asked with a sneer.

"I was actually on my way to your class, sir." responded Draco hopefully. He knew that some kind of lecture was coming if Professor Snape had taken time to talk to him.

"You're very early, I wouldn't worry yourself. Professor Dumbledore asked me to talk to you concerning a quidditch matter. I don't know if you have heard about this All-Star game that the school is having, but since our supply of seekers is so drastically low, you have been chosen to be the substitute for Potter. You most likely won't have to play, but if Potter gets hurt or chooses not to participate, the role would go to you." Professor Snape drawled on.

"Wow, thank you sir. Please tell Professor Dumbledore that I would love to play in the game." responded Draco excitedly.

"Alright," said Professor Snape. Draco started to walk away "And Draco?"

"Yes sir?"

"I'm sorry to hear about your mother. I know that must be difficult for you."


	9. Chapter 9

I just wanted to thank everyone who has been reviewing my story. It's great to hear from you guys and I'm getting some really good ideas based off some of the suggestions!

Chapter 9

Hermione POV

Hermione sat in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom and anxiously waited for Professor Snape to arrive. Although he constantly insulted her ability to answer every single question he threw at her, Hermione found that Snape was actually a really brilliant educator. _Maybe it's because he is finally teaching something that he has a true passion for, unlike his Potions job. _Whatever the cause, Hermione found that she had learned more in the past three months of school than she had learned third, fourth, and fifth year combined.

That wasn't to downgrade Professor Lupin, he had been an amazing teacher. But he lacked the disciplinary techniques that Professor Snape had. Lupin had taught the curriculum to the class in terms that first years could have understood, and because of this, Hermione felt like she hadn't gotten as much out of it as she could have.

On the other hand, "Professor Moody" had possessed too much severity. The man had made Neville cry their first day in class, and she was sure many other people had sobbed to themselves after they had exited the classroom. Of course, that was really a death eater in disguise, so she would never admit to learning anything from a dark wizard.

And then there was Professor Umbridge. In all of her life, Hermione didn't believe that a teacher had taught her so little. All that Hermione had accomplished in Defense Against the Dark Arts last year was due to Harry's magnificent training. The only thing that Professor Umbridge had contributed to her life was a need to feel like a rebel. This feeling, although useful at some moments, was not what Hermione had wished to accomplish in her fifth year.

But Snape knew how to teach and how to captivate an audience. Hermione found herself drawn to his teaching methods because he had the ability to bring to life what he taught. Hermione was sad to think that it was probably because he himself was so involved in the dark arts, but if Dumbledore trusted him, she did. Nothing anyone could say, including Harry, would change that.

Professor Snape strode into the classroom with Draco closely following. Draco shot Hermione a smile unlike anything that Hermione had ever seen take form on the face of a Malfoy. She quickly smiled back, trying to put in the same amount of enthusiasm as she had received, before taking out her notes. She looked over at Harry and Ron to see if they had witnessed the smile that she shared with Draco. Harry seemed oblivious to the interaction, but Ron was staring down at his paper furiously with the familiar beet red color spreading across his face and into his ears.

After class, Hermione met Draco in the hallway. She had told Harry and Ron to head off to their next class without her due to the fact that Ron was still mad at the both of them. Hermione figured that if Harry at least stayed with him, his anger would be somewhat reduced."

"Hermione! How are you?" asked Draco enthusiastically. He looked great. Hermione had noticed that ever since he had started to open up more, he had become less pale and even developed some color in his normally icy face.

"I'm good, Draco. How have you been doing?"

"I've been great actually, thanks for asking." responded Draco, "Professor Dumbledore offered me a spot on the roster for the All-Star game that's coming up. I'm a substitute for Harry, so I know I probably won't get that much playing time, but it's an honor just to be asked." Draco finished with a grin.

"Wow, that's great Draco. It will be awesome to finally see you and Harry playing on the same team. It's going to be a relief not having to choose sides." Hermione was genuinely excited for the boy. She knew how happy quidditch made Harry and she hoped that it could have the same effect on Draco. And she _was _glad that for once she would be able to cheer for just one team.

"So..." started Draco, "Did you talk to Harry and Ron about... you know... us being friends?"

"I did actually," replied Hermione, "Harry is willing to give it a try. He thinks that everyone should be given a second chance, and to be honest, I think he is relieved at the idea of not having to fight with you." Draco laughed. Hermione could see that the prospect of one more new friend had him excited. Then, his face dropped slightly.

"Then what about Ron?" he asked nervously.

"Weeeelllllll... Ron isn't ecstatic at the idea of being friends with you. Unlike Harry, he doesn't think that you can change in such a short period of time." Hermione didn't think she had ever seen anyone's face fall so fast. Draco looked like someone had just informed him that his pet had died. "Draco, what's wrong?" Hermione asked worriedly.

"You said that we could only be friends if Harry and Ron agreed. Ron didn't agree so does that mean..." Draco trailed off looking up at Hermione with fright buried in his eyes.

"No, no, no, we can still be friends!" interjected Hermione hurriedly. "Harry and I compromised with Ron, and whenever he is around we can just try to limit the amount that you interact with him."

Draco's eyes lit up like fireworks during a fourth of July celebration. He had his mouth open, but no sound was coming out. Hermione hoped this was a sign of how happy he was, and not something else.

"Come on," gestured Hermione, "maybe after Transfiguration we can talk to Harry and Ron." She grabbed Draco's hand and pulled him down the corridor.

Draco was once again sitting alone at the dinner table when he saw a raven-haired boy with glasses approaching him. It was an unusual sensation to smile and the boy instead of scowl and ready an insult. His new friendship with Harry had been established after Transfiguration. Harry, Hermione, and Draco had walked down to lunch together after the lesson and then taken a walk down to the quidditch pitch.

Draco could tell that Harry was still a little uneasy about him, but he was grateful that he was being given a chance. So much of his life had consisted of people automatically assuming that he was a bad person just because of his blood and his relatives. It hadn't been until the past few days that Draco had realized how much it had hurt.

"Hi, Draco," started Harry, "I just wanted to let you know that we have a quidditch practice scheduled for today. It won't be a lot of actual training, just everyone getting to know everyone from the other house. Hopefully I won't have to break up too many fights. Anyway, I'm captain of the team, but I it would be great if you could be kind of a role model to the Slytherin. It's incredible how much you've changed, and I'm hoping some of your good influence will rub off on them."

"Thanks, Harry that's such an honor." replied Draco. Harry looked down at his shoes, clearly a bit embarrassed. "Oh and also," Draco added, "I'm really looking forward to competing with you not against you. Even if we won't be playing at the same time, it will be a nice change."

"I completely agree." responded Harry. The Slytherins around Draco were beginning to give Harry looks of disgust so Draco signaled to him that he should probably leave. Harry gave Draco a look of gratitude and quickly made his way back to a red-faced Ron and an adorable looking Hermione.

It looked like she had stayed up all night studying or reading because he hair was bushier than usual and a bit disheveled. To add to that, she was completely ignoring her food and had her head buried in a book as usual. Draco found himself staring at her and had no desire to stop. Being friends with Hermione was the greatest thing he had ever experienced, but he found himself wanting more the closer they got. All he wanted to do was hold her hand or hug her whenever they were together.

He knew that he was still in love with her, but made a promise to himself to take it slow and not force anything upon her. Before he did anything else, Draco wanted to build a friendship that could withstand anything. That moment when she had taken his hand and run to class with him, though, that had been one of the best moments of his life.

It was a moment that would live on in his head forever.


	10. Chapter 10

Hi everyone sorry I haven't been able to update for a couple of days. My soccer team and I are going to Virginia for a tournament and we have been training like 24/7. Anyway here is Chapter 10.

Chapter 10

**Draco POV**

Quidditch practice was hell. It was literally as if Satan himself had shown up and wreaked havoc upon the Slytherin-Gryffindor team. To begin with, there was a thunderstorm so even when Harry was just trying to talk to the team, his words were hidden by loud booms. When they finally stepped on to the pitch, things got even worse. The chasers couldn't catch the quaffle, the beaters accidently kept knocking each other off of their brooms with the bludgers, Ron had repeatedly run into a goalpost trying to make saves, and even Harry was struggling to find the snitch.

Draco and Harry had been switching off playing the role of seeker, and Draco could see that the team needed help. It wasn't that the team was bad. It was made up of the best collection of Gryffindors and Slytherins in the school. Nobody was working together, though. In an attempt to be fair to both houses, Dumbledore had put one Gryffindor and one Slytherin as beaters, two Slytherins and one Gryffindor as chasers, a Gryffindor as the keeper, and a Gryffindor as the Seeker.

Due to this arrangement, the essence of teamwork had not paid the team a visit. Nobody was communicating with each other, and not a word of encouragement was spoken. The only exchange between the two houses were cold glares. Finally after two hours Harry had sighed and blown his whistle.

"Okay, everyone...um good job today I guess." Harry started, "We have another practice two days from now at the same time. Hopefully the weather will be better and we can address some issues. So if that's everything...Draco?" Harry looked up in surprise as Draco cleared his throat.

"Well yes I'd just like to say something." Harry beckoned for Draco to continue. "I just want to say that I know we are from two rival houses but I think that's why Dumbledore put our two teams together. I know I'm not the only one who is aware that there is a war on the horizon. I realize that for a lot of people this is just a silly quidditch game, but when we are in the midst of war, our two houses should be fighting together, not against each other. We should start bonding together and I know that's not the easiest thing to do given the fact that our houses have such a history, but I really do believe that if at least we make amends with each other, it will make a difference."

Suddenly embarrassed and a bit self-conscious, Draco sat down on one of the benches by the sideline hoping someone would say something to bring attention away from what he just said. Harry and the rest of the team were staring at him with looks of astonishment. He was sure that half of them had never heard him say that much in the entire time they had known him.

Much to his surprise, Harry stood back up with a huge smile plastered across his face. "Yes, that is exactly what we all have to think about. This game is more that just a match. It's a chance to change our future for the better." after a bit of awkward silence Harry spoke again, "Okay now everyone can leave." before anyone could stand though, one of the Slytherin boys started clapping.

Confused by what was happening, Draco looked up. His sight was met with a room full of muddy, drenched quidditch players all clapping and smiling at Draco. He gave a rather uneasy smile back at all of them and was glad when they stood up and started filing off of the field. All that was left when Draco looked back up was Harry.

Harry started chuckling after a few seconds. He met Draco's baffled expression and explained himself. "I just never thought I would see a death eater's son talking about unity and friendship between Slytherin and Gryffindor." He finished with a smile up at Draco, "I'm really proud of you Draco. You've changed so much over the past few weeks and I know that it has probably been hard for you. I really think that what you just said could change the outcome of the match and the war as a whole."

Draco mirrored Harry's expression of happiness and shook the boy's hand. "I'm really glad I agreed to be your backup," said Draco, "I'm really glad that we changed our ways and became friends." Harry smiled back at Draco.

"So am I"

After a while of just staring out at the green and muddy quidditch pitch, Draco stood and began to saunter towards the showers. Harry had left a while ago telling Draco that he had to study for a test coming up in one of his subjects. As he entered the locker room, Draco was met by a sopping wet Weasley boy.

"Oh, hello Ronald." although Draco knew that the boy didn't want to be friends with him, he felt that he should still be civil towards him."

"Don't you 'Ronald' me you blithering idiot." retorted a furious Ron. "First you go and steal my friends, and now you are trying to take over Harry's quidditch team? They might not see the old Draco Malfoy behind the slightly less greased back hair, but I can still see him rearing his ugly, pathetic head." Ron snapped at Draco. The latter was greatly taken aback. He had never pegged Ron to be the yelling sort.

"Look," began Draco, "I don't want any trouble." with that he began his walk up towards the castle leaving a stammering Ron behind. It took a while for the boy to catch up with Draco, but when he did he was fuming.

"I don't know why Harry and Hermione think you have changed or whatever, but I'm not buying it. I think that once you get to be friends with them, you are going to alert your death eater dad about all their little secrets so he can sic You-Know-Who on us." Draco looked at the boy with astonishment. By know they were walking through the halls of Hogwarts.

"Do you really think all of that, Ron?" questioned Draco, "First of all, I am already friends with Harry and Hermione, and I haven't 'alerted my father of their secrets'. All I want to do is have friends that are understanding for once and really care about me." Ron laughed. Out of the corner of his eye, Draco saw Hermione round a corridor coming towards them, but he was too focused on Ron.

"Look, _Draco. _I heard that your mother died" started Ron. Draco immediately felt his heart drop at the mention of his mother. "I don't care if that's true or not because either way, you are a lying, cheating ferret who thinks that it can get whatever it wants. Well let me tell you something. You can't have my friends!" by now Ron was yelling. The figure in the corner of Draco's eye was approaching rapidly and his heart was still thumping from the reference to his mother. Ron continued his shouting, "Your family is a breeding ground for scum like you. It's no wonder you turned out like you did with that father of yours. And your mother. What? Was she not strong enough to stay alive? Did she even fight back before her repulsive body hit the floor and died along with her terribleness and hatred for all living things?!"

By now Draco was boiling on the inside. It was all he could do to keep a straight face. "Look," he managed in a terrifyingly soft and quivering voice, "just leave my mum out of this. Please." Ron smiled as he realized he had hit a soft spot.

"What? Is little Draco afraid his zombie mother won't be there to tuck him in every night? Is he worried that now she's gone he'll be the nastiest one in the family? ANSWER ME MALFOY!" Ron shouted, "ANSWER THE QUESTION!"

It took all of Draco's willpower to just say a simple "no". By now he could see Hermione trying to restrain Ron, but the redhead was too strong. The moment he took his eyes off Ron to look at Hermione, Ron struck. The ginger's fist connected with Draco's jaw with such power he felt it shift out of alignment. He faintly heard Hermione scream for help.

"Go home and cry to your mother, scum." sneered Ron.

This combined with all of the previous insults did it for Draco. He ran off down the long, stone corridor, tears streaming down his face.


	11. Chapter 11

I'M BACKKKKKKKK!

Yeah so I'm home from the soccer tournament and ready to update again. Sorry for the long wait, but I have some really good ideas!

Chapter 11

**Hermione POV**

Hermione wasn't sure where to find Draco. After he had run off crying she had turned to face Ron with an expression of such anger, the Weasley boy shrunk in terror.

_"What the heck was that for Ron?" Hermione yelled, "You know that his mum just died, why did you have to bring it up in that way?" Ron seemed to gain some of his confidence back._

_"Because he's awful, Hermione," he shot back, "How have your feelings for him changed so quickly? Ever since the first day of school here when we were eleven he hasn't stopped calling you 'Mudblood'. He's never shown even a brief glimmer of kindness towards Harry, you, or me. Why the heck would he have changed so suddenly?" Hermione met Ron's eyes with a look of astonishment on her face._

_"Ronald, in case you haven't noticed, which I wouldn't be surprised because you never seem to notice anything, his mother died. She is gone and I think that a family death can change you pretty suddenly."_

_Ron smirked and shot back, "Both of Harry's parents died and he isn't any different." It was all Hermione could do to not strangle the beet red, ginger haired boy. _

_"YOU DIDN'T KNOW HIM BEFORE THEY DIED RONALD! Don't you think that if Harry had grown up with two powerful wizards alive as his parents he would be just a little bit different? He would know more about magic and about Voldemort than you will ever know in your life, he would probably be best friends with Neville whose parents also played a key role in the old Order of the Phoenix, he wouldn't have a scar, wouldn't speak Parselmouth, wouldn't be hunted by Voldemort, and lastly, he wouldn't need to be with your family all the time to feel like he belonged to one because he would have his own. So if you're blind enough to believe that dead parents can't change you, you obviously have never thought about how lucky you are to have Harry in your life!" Hermione screamed at the boy._

_Ron stared at Hermione, looking taken aback. "I..." he started, "I just don't think that Malfoy deserves a second chance. I mean, you just talked about how Harry's life is, and Malfoy has contributed a nice chunk of living hell to it." Hermione stared at Ron in anger._

_"Draco has changed whether you see it or not. But seriously, Ronald, you really think people don't deserve a second chance?"_

_"Absolutely not." responded Ron._

_"Then I guess you don't get one." Hermione said firmly without hesitation. "In case you haven't noticed Harry has forgiven Draco, I've forgiven Draco, and Draco wants to be friends with us. We don't need your opinion and from now on we won't even consider it because you have just separated yourself from the three of us._

_And with that Hermione had turned on her heel and started to look for Draco._

Hermione had searched seemingly everywhere in the castle for Draco. Not only was he proving hard to find, he fight with Ron was distracting her from concentrating. _How could you ever have had feelings for him? He just showed that he isn't even willing to try anything for you. He basically just threw away five years of friendship in an attempt to get what he wants and to separate you from Draco. _

Hermione shook her conscious out of her mind. Right now she had to focus on finding Draco. She had searched every empty classroom in the castle, every secret passageway, and every corridor for the blond haired boy. One of the only places she hadn't looked was the dungeons because she thought that the thought of being near the Slytherins wouldn't have seemed pleasurable to Draco. After sneaking into the Gryffindor boy's common room, and going through Harry's things, she found what she was looking for.

The Maurader's Map. True, she hadn't approved of the artifact in third year, but right now she believed that finding her lost friend was of the utmost importance. _Okay, Hermione, think. You're supposed to be the smart one. _Finally she saw him huddled in a corner on top of the Astronomy Tower. Dropping the map on top of Harry's unorganized dresser, she sprinted down the common room stairs and up towards the spiral staircase leading up to the tower.

When she finally arrived, it took longer then she had thought to actually find Draco. He was hidden under a tarp that had been covering a telescope, hugging his knees, and with his head buried in them. He was shaking with what Hermione recognized as silent sobs. Her heart immediately broke for the boy. She gently touched his arm and he jumped. Obviously he had been too deeply buried in his own sorrow to comprehend what was going on in the world around him.

Even when she had made her presence known to him, Draco didn't immediately look up.

"Draco," whispered Hermione softly, "I'm so sorry for what Ron said. You can't take any of what he said to heart." Hermione was propped up on her knees with her hand still resting gently on Draco's shoulder. Finally he met her gaze.

His eyes were red, puffy, and bloodshot. The only time Hermione had ever seen someone this upset was after Sirius' death last year when Harry had refused to speak to anyone for a week, immersed in his own sorrow.

"Y-You don't understand, Hermione," said Draco so softly Hermione had to strain to hear him, "He was right. I mean, not literally about everything, but my mother made a horrendous choice marrying my father. I know that he killed her, and ever since she's been gone, the only thing that I can think about is the way that she would never stand up for herself." Draco broke down in a fresh batch of tears.

Hermione looked over Draco sadly, "Draco, I know that this is really hard for you, but you can't keep thinking about what your mother could have done differently. She obviously loved you very much. I think that the reason she stayed with your father was that she knew if she left she couldn't be with you. Even if she couldn't show it all the time, she loved you Draco. I think that's what you need to remember about her." Hermione finished with a sad smile.

Draco looked up at Hermione, the new information seeming to dawn on him and he gave her a watery smile. "Thank you for that, Hermione, and I'm sorry you had to come find me. I shouldn't have run off like that."

"Hey," responded Hermione, "that's what friends do for one another. They have each other's backs when they need each other." Hermione smiled at Draco and drew him into a warm embrace. "I'll always be there for you if you need me, Draco, please remember that." Draco smiled back at the witch.

"I will," he promised with as much sincerity as he could muster. "But I think I'm going to ask Harry to take me off of the team. I don't want the tension between Ron and I to hurt our chances of winning. Hermione looked up at Draco, surprised.

"You won't need to resign. There are rules allowing team captains to kick their players off the team if the player physically or mentally abuses another player. It states that in the official handbook. Not only that, but Ron can get detentions or even be expelled for what he said to you. That was really serious, what he said. He can't get out under the radar for that.

After a minute of considering, Draco looked up at Hermione. "I don't think I want him expelled, but I will tell Harry what happened. You don't think that will draw too much attention will it? I don't want any other Gryffindors hating my guts."

"I don't think you have to worry about the Gryffindors anymore, Draco," responded Hermione, "I'm pretty sure that even Ronald's siblings and parents will shun Ron after what he did."

"Okay" sighed Draco looking relieved. "But if you don't mind I'm going to stay up here for a bit more. You don't have to stay if you don't want to."

"No, I want to," replied Hermione, "I'll always be here for you, remember?"

Draco and Hermione sat huddled together for warmth staring up at the stars. Every minute or two, Hermione would point out a different constellation. At one time, Hermione looked up and gasped.

"What is it?" asked Draco, sounding alarmed.

"Oh, it's not anything bad, sorry for alarming you," responded Hermione, "It's just...that constellation there," she drew a curved line in the sky ending in a box, "that's Draco the constellation. Did you know that it's circumpolar which means that it never sets?" Draco laughed and beamed at Hermione.

"Then just remember that even when I'm not around, I'll always be up in the sky watching out for you."

Hermione was at a loss for words. For one of the first times, her breath had been taken away by a simple sentence. Being Hermione, though, when a situation like this came up, the only words that escaped her mouth were useless facts. "Did you also know," she managed to stammer out, "that Draco means dragon in Latin?"

Draco laughed again and Hermione found that she enjoyed the sound.

"Hermione," Draco began, "You may be the brightest witch of our age, but I want you to know that you're so much more than that as well."

Hermione blushed.

_Please read and review. Did you like the Dramione astronomy tower scene? I had a lot of fun writing this chapter partly because of the Dramione, but also because of the whole Ron scene. Let me know what you think! _


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

**Draco POV**

Two weeks later and the Gryffindor-Slytherin quidditch team was looking better than ever. The team dynamics had gotten better after the two houses started to get along, and there was no longer a male ginger idiot on the team. Draco and Hermione had told Harry about what Ron had done, and without a second thought, Harry had kicked Ron off the team. Not only this, but when Professor Dumbledore had caught wind of the incident, he sentenced Ron to detention for the twelve weeks until school ended for the summer.

Harry was having trouble finding a new keeper, however. The Slytherin house team keeper refused to be part of the team due to the fact that he had not originally been chosen, and neither house had a backup keeper. For the time being, the team was practicing without a keeper in the hopes that their developing offensive skills would keep the quaffle away from the goalposts.

Draco knew that Harry was under a lot of stress and was trying to make his job as easy as he could. There had even been some practice sessions where Draco had completely run practice so that Harry could scour for a replacement. All attempts so far, however, had failed. Finally, one day, Harry had broken down and offered the spot to Cormac Mclaggen. Draco could tell that Harry resented the boy, but there was no possible way to play a quidditch match without someone tending the goalposts.

Besides this inconvenience, though, the chasers were scoring seemingly every second, the beaters' aim had improved thoroughly so that now they could hit a moving target traveling almost 95 kilometers an hour, and due to Harry's amazing skill, he could catch the snitch in the worst of conditions in almost no time at all.

The big game was coming up- only three days away- and the whole team was getting excited to face the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws. There was only one last item of business, picking a team name. Madame Hooch had decided that the teams would need to pick a name that represented both houses. Draco and Harry organized a meeting for the team to brainstorm the new title.

"I personally think," suggested Mclaggen, "that we should be team Cormac. Everyone here obviously idolizes me and I think we should share that with the school." Draco looked over at Harry who was staring at Mclaggen with an expression of utmost confusion. It was all Draco could do not to laugh at the expression.

"Yes, well thanks for that suggestion," said Harry, "We'll um... we'll think about that." Draco looked around the room at the other players. All of them were staring off into the distance, mouths forming words strung together that could somehow possibly represent the two houses. He could hear Ginny Weasley whispering things to herself like, "Slythindor" or "Gryfferin".

"Guys," Draco spoke up, "I don't think we have to make a name combining two things about our house, I think it can be like, a word, or something that represents both our houses, or maybe just our team." Harry nodded along to what Draco was saying.

"You're absolutely right, Draco," he started, "When I think of this team I don't really think about the history of our houses anymore, I think about how we have grown past our stereotypes and actually become a pretty good team. Our new name should be something that represents union and prevailing our differences." Ginny looked up, broken out of her trance.

"Well, Hermione was just lecturing me about something from her Ancient Runes class, and I didn't really listen, but she was talking about how some animals represent ideas and traits. Maybe she could help us." Harry slowly nodded.

"Good idea, Ginny. Why don't you take the team through a warmup and Draco and I will try to find Hermione. We'll be back as soon as possible." Ginny nodded and led the team back out onto the quidditch pitch.

"So," began Draco, "where do you think Hermione is?" Harry looked up at Draco with a look of playful exasperation on his face. "Right," nodded Draco, "that was a stupid question." Harry laughed and pulled on his school sweater.

"When you have known Hermione as long as I have," said Harry, "never doubt where she is. Just go to the library, and if she isn't there, something's wrong." Draco nodded sheepishly and began walking up the steps to the castle with Harry by his side.

"Harry?" he abruptly asked, "why do you think that Hermione fancied Ron?" right after he said it he realized that he shouldn't have. There was no way of knowing whether or not Harry was still talking to Ron. If he was this would certainly come up in conversation. To his surprise though, Harry just nodded knowingly. It was almost as if he had answered this question many times before.

"Look Draco," Harry began, "I'm not exactly sure when Hermione started having feelings for Ron, but I don't think that they were as serious as you or even she thought they were. I'm pretty sure it had something to do with the fact that the three of us had been such close friends and done so many things together. Excluding me, he was the only one that had really experienced that same things that she had. And also, if we're being honest. Hermione used to be kind of insecure with herself. I mean, she's one of the only muggle-borns in the school, and she used to have those huge teeth before Madame Pomfrey shrunk them for her. I think that she thought that she kind of doubts how great she really is and because of that lowered her expectations to seem appealing to Ron."

"But she shouldn't need or want to lower her expectations for anyone," observed Draco, "She's pretty much perfect. I mean she's super smart, brave, funny, a great friend, and she she shouldn't have to be insecure because she's beautiful." As he thought more and more about it Draco thought of all the terrible things that he had done to Hermione in the past that could have made her feel insecure. He had called her a mud-blood countless times, made her teeth grow huge, sent her an envelope full of Bobotuber pus that had caused her hands to swell up. The sudden realization of what he had done hit him hard. Draco was only broken from his train of thought by the fact that Harry was staring at him with a huge smile on his face.

"What?" questioned Draco.

"Oh, it's nothing" replied Harry, but the grin of happiness on his face betrayed him. "Oh all right," he added as Draco continued to stare at him, "Mate, it's pretty clear you fancy Hermione."

Draco was taken aback. He tried to respond but only ended up sputtering. Harry laughed, "Hey, it's cool. I'm actually kind of glad. Hermione hasn't had a lot of luck with boys and I'm really happy that she finally has someone that likes her for her."

"Well, um..." Draco began, " I'm glad you think that because it would be kind of weird if you, you know, didn't really like me spending time with her.

"Of course I'm alright with that," responded Harry, "I didn't think I would ever be able to have one conversation with you two months ago, but now, after what Ron did, you, and Hermione are two of my closest friends." Draco exhaled a sigh that he hadn't realized he had been holding. He didn't know how to respond but thankfully he didn't have to because they had reached the library. As he entered, Draco found himself searching the stacks of books for a glimpse of Hermione.

Draco had no idea where she would be, but Harry led the way towards that back of the hall to a small corner where Hermione was deeply immersed in a potions book. Harry cleared his throat softly. As she looked up, Draco noticed a rare blank sheet of parchment in front of her. Usually any parchment that was place in front of Hermione was covered in sentences, phrases, spells, and reminders in seconds.

"Hi, Hermione," whispered Harry, " We were trying to think of a new mascot or word to represent the quidditch team and Ginny was telling us about something you told her on the subject of Ancient Runes that had to do with animals representing traits and emotions." Hermione stared at him for a moment, then responded.

"Yeah, I know what you're talking about. Um...I don't have my Ancient Runes book with me, it's in the common room, but I can go get-" Harry interrupted her before she could finish.

"I'll get it. you and Draco just stay here." Draco wasn't sure, but he thought he saw Harry wink at him briefly before sprinting out of the library doors. Draco took a seat across from Hermione.

"What are you reading?"

"Oh, I'm just trying to find the answer to something that we learned about in Potions. I didn't really understand it, and with exams coming up I thought I would try to find it." said Hermione. Ignoring the fact that exams were almost three months away, Draco realized that he understood what she was reading.

"Wait, you don't understand Golpalott's Third Law?" he questioned. Looking like the world was ending, Hermione solemnly shook her head. "Can I try to explain it to you?" Draco asked. Looking up, intrigued, Hermione nodded. "Well okay," Draco started, " you know how almost every poison has an antidote?" Hermione nodded, "Well Golpalott's Third Law states that if you mix together a bunch of poisons, you can't create an antidote to that substance by mixing together all the antidotes of the individual poisons."

"Okay...then how do you create an antidote for that substance?" asked Hermione

"Well you have to add an ingredient to the mixed antidotes that transforms the antidote into a combined whole that can counteract he mixed poisons. It basically means that the whole antidote is greater than the sum of its parts, or all the antidotes mixed together. Does that make sense?"

Draco looked at Hermione and found her staring deep into his eyes. "Yeah...it does" she responded, never breaking her gaze. Draco swallowed hard to try to relieve his dry throat. Was it just his imagination or was Hermione drawing closer to him every second. He could see the sparks of creamy brown in her deep hazel eyes. Just when there noses were millimeters apart, Harry burst around the corner, Hermione's book bag in hand. Draco and Hermione bolted apart, each trying to look anywhere except at the other.

**_Read and Review!_**


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